China Edges Closer
To a Rate Increase

BEIJING -- The rebound in China's industrial-output growth last month casts doubt on the effectiveness of official measures to take the steam out of the country's red-hot economy and boosts the likelihood of an imminent interest-rate increase.

The National Bureau of Statistics said Friday that industrial output, China's benchmark measure of industrial manufacturing, rose 15.9% in August from a year earlier, surpassing July's 15.5%...